Deutsche Aktien Xchange 30 (DAX 30)

The Deutsche Aktien Xchange 30 – DAX 30 is Germany's benchmark stock market index. It is a total return index of the 30 largest German blue-chip companies traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a market capitalization-weighted fund. The Deutsche Aktien Xchange 30 (DAX 30) had a base value of 1,000 as of December 31, 1987. It was previously known as the Deutscher Aktien Index 30.

The Deutsche Aktien Xchange 30 – DAX 30 is the benchmark stock index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The DAX 30 includes the 30 largest companies traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Companies included in the DAX 30 index have historically included household names such as Adidas, BMW, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, and Volkswagen. By virtue of being a proxy for the performance of the German stock market, the DAX 30 index is one of the most important equity indexes in Europe and worldwide. It is important to note, however, that since the DAX 30 only covers 30 stocks, it does not indicate the range and depth of the German economic sector. The focus on the biggest capitalized stocks can present a skewed sample of industries and performance.

The DAX 30 is run on the trading venue Xetra, which is operated by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, called the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörs in German. The DAX 30 is operated by the Deutsche Börse. The regular trading day of the DAX 30 is from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Late/Early DAX (L/E DAX) is calculated after hours from 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and before the market opens officially from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday the Swiss electronic futures and options exchange Eurex offers futures (FDAX) and options (ODAX) on the DAX 30.

The DAX 30 started on December 30, 1987 from a basis of 1,000, and on January 23, 2018 hit a high of 13,596.89.

There are two entirely different versions of the DAX 30. One is the performance index, which measures total return, including dividends. This version is the most commonly quoted version of the DAX 30. The other version is called the price index, and it only takes into account the price of the fund, not any other earnings including dividends. The price index has more in common with other countries’ quoted indexes.